Dies irae

[Latin, day of wrath]

A principal movement in the Requiem Mass and a Gregorian Chant attributed to friar Thomas of Celano (d. ca. 1255), friend and biographer of St. Francis of Assisi (Liber usual is). The chant originated from the responsory used at the absolution at the conclusion of the "Mass for the Dead." The text is taken from the prophet Zephaniah. The Dies iraesequence was removed from the Requiem Mass in 1972 because the frightening account of the Last Judgement was no longer appropriate to the theology of the time.

A day of wrath, that day,
a day of distress and agony,
a day of ruin and of devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and think darkness,
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against fortified town
and high corner-tower.
(The Jerusalem Bible, p. 1521)